1. Field of the Invention
Broadly, this invention relates to a cooking system that monitors and measures the amount of product to be cooked (the product load) and adjusts the power level of the cooking apparatus (oven) based on the product load. More particularly, this invention relates to a conveyor-type oven having a device that monitors the amount of product to be cooked in the oven and automatically controls/adjusts the power level of the oven generator to correspond to the load.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, food products (strips of bacon or other similar products) enter an oven system on a conveyor belt and are transmitted through a cavity containing the energy or heat to cook the products. Most of these oven systems use microwave energy to cook the products. In existing industrial conveyor-type microwave ovens, the power level generated by the microwave transmitters is set by the operator to match the maximum load capacity of the cavity or the maximum load expected in the cavity. Problems arise when the load drops, i.e., fewer strips of bacon are put on the conveyor belt. If not enough product is placed on the conveyor belt going through the system, there is a power mis-match between the power needed to cook the product load and the actual power provided. As a result of this power mis-match, the product is often overcooked. In some instances, the excess microwave energy present in the cavity could result in arcing. Severe arcing damages the equipment and possibly could cause the product to catch on fire. Previous attempts to solve this problem have concentrated on keeping the conveyor belt loaded to capacity or maintaining a consistent product load, thereby avoiding load variations and power mis-matches.